Movies: Contact
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
I'm going to make them an offer again.
I feel the need. The need for a speech.
He's watched every movie more than once. He's Stephen Fennec.
Go ahead. Make my day.
He's watched the latest Disney movies with his kids. But that's about it. He's Trevor Long.
You talking to me?
Together, they bring you the best movies you've never seen.
I will look for you.
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Rent BioScreen the latest and greatest movies on fetch. Watch on a big screen Hisense TV.
Say hello to my little friend! The best movies you've never seen.
First rule of Fight Club is, you do not talk about Fight Club.
With Stephen Fennec and Trevor Long. This is the captain.
Brace for impact.
The best movies you've never seen. Hello and welcome to our movie podcast. My name is Stephen Fennec and the idea behind this podcast is that I choose the movies and I show them to my co-host Trevor Long who, as the title suggests, has never seen them before. That's it. And that is our show. And this week is probably case in point. You've not seen this film, released in 1997, Contact. Nope. Starring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey, directed by Robert Zemeckis. Do you know the big movie that Robert Zemeckis directed, mate? Back to the Future? Back to the Future. Hey, look at the big brain on Trevor. Yeah, let's go. All right. This is based on the Carl Sagan novel, which was published in 1985. Yeah. Now, this, I think thematically, this is an interesting film because it's kind of a three-sided argument, right?
There's science, there's faith, and there's politics all mixed into one. Yeah. As we talk about the film, you'll understand who's coming from where. I'm glad you said that earlier because it's basically the film I took out of it. It is a big mixture, yeah, yeah. Now, production was halted when Francis Ford Coppola, the famed director of The Godfather and many other great films, filed a breach of contract suit against Carl Sagan's estate and Warner Brothers. He claimed that he had developed the contact premise for Zotrobe Studios. That's his studio, right? Obviously, nothing came of it because they finished the movie and released it. Yeah. But there was a little speed hump there at the time, a little bump in the road.
Right. Sadly, the author, Carl Sagan, who was also a producer, died during production. Oh, wow. And he was apparently supposed to have a cameo in the film, but his role as a producer was to ensure that the science was accurately depicted.
Wow.
Okay, right. So he was like an advisor, producer, but sadly he had a cameo planned, but he passed away. Now, I don't think you'd heard of this until I told you about this a couple of weeks ago. No. What were your impressions before your first viewing? What were you expecting? I think you'd given me that it involved space and such. Astronomy, yeah. I guess I was a little nervous because space makes me think sci-fi. Not always, as you've discovered. Correct. So there was trepidation coming in. But yeah, certainly I had no knowledge or perceptions of this movie. It did receive one Oscar nomination. Best Sound. Nomination for Best Sound was beaten by this little battler of a movie called Titanic. I mean, they tried hard for the budget they had.
They did all right. Our man Roger Ebert. 3.5 out of 4 stars. I still can't believe he goes out of 4, but anyway. So the last part of his review is this. What happens in the last third of the film I will not describe. Some of it you can guess. You may be guessing wrong. In a later article, I'll speculate about what happens and whether it happens the way it seems to. Zemeckis uses special effects to suggest the climactic events without upstaging them. Earlier effects, however, that seemingly incorporate President Clinton into the film are simply distracting. Movies like Contact help explain why movies like Independence Day leave me feeling empty and unsatisfied. Interesting. When I look up at the sky through a telescope, when I follow the landing of the research vehicle on Mars, when I read about cosmology, I brush against transcendence.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:06–6:24
2
What is the premise and production background of Contact (1997)?
6:24–29:12
3
Who stars in Contact and what key casting choices shape the film?
29:12–41:13
4
How does the film use the cosmic 'zoom out' and audio montage to set tone?
41:13–51:05
5
How is Ellie Arroway introduced and what motivates her SETI work?
51:05–1:03:22